The Paris City School opened on September 11, 1865. The earliest classes were composed of white students only. Professor Julius Herrick served as the first principal, supervising 3 teachers and 130 students during the first year. School attendance was free of charge to the children of Paris residents and taxpayers while students from the county had to pay tuition. Latin, Greek and mathematics were among the subjects offered.
The first Paris City School building was in the old Bourbon Academy building, located on Pleasant Street. A two-story brick building was constructed in 1806-1807 that accommodated one hundred students. The trustees of the City of Paris acquired the property in 1856 and built a new school. During the Civil War, the Federal Army occupied the building as a hospital.
The City School building on Pleasant Street burned on January 18, 1889. In 1890, a new white city school was erected on 7th Street on the same property where the current middle and high schools are located. The Richardsonian Romanesque style building had ten rooms and cost $25,000. Nearly 450 students, including 60 high school students, attended the new school in 1890. By contrast, the black school educated 350 students in the same year.